The people’s election monitoring team of Youth Collective Manipur (YCM) has shared its preliminary findings with all relevant stakeholders on the election environment leading up to this year’s Manipur assembly election. Notwithstanding the significant features the ECI introduced, the YCM found that the pre-election phase was marked by unprecedented violence and use of muscle and money power.
In a release, Thongam Zingo, coordinator of the people’s election monitoring, said over and above the election officials, political parties, candidates and their workers, the media and some civil society groups are also intensely engaged in the electoral processes.
YCM’s assessment found out that the main highlight of Manipur-2022-Election is the escalating poll related violent incidents. The YCM has documented 46 violent incidents including 4 deaths, 10 bomb blasts, 15 cases of gun violence, and 19 ransacking of properties and others.
The open intimidation by armed ethnic militant groups, forcing members of its ethnic community to vote for one particular political party is a matter of grave concern. Most stakeholders interviewed expressed the possibility of violent incidents continuing even in the post-election period, the YCM release said.
The main source of information for the public about plans and preparedness for the polls are the media briefings of the election officials. This election is witnessing some new features including measures for conducting elections during Covid-19 pandemic.
The c-VIGIL app, which is designed to empower the citizens to easily lodge complaints on violation of Model Code of Conduct (MCC), if it functions effectively, will contribute towards a free and fair election.
For the first time, there are 5 all-women led polling stations (16.4% polling stations), and extending postal ballots to electors categories of 80+ age, Persons with Disabilities and Covid-19 patients. An interesting development is granting of voting rights to militants currently under Suspension of Operation and Memorandum of Understanding arrangements with the Government of India. It is also important to ensure exercise of voting rights for electors residing outside the state, said the release.
High number of candidates with criminal records is another concern. Interestingly, most candidates with criminal backgrounds are documented crorepati. Out of 53 candidates with criminal backgrounds, 31 are crorepati (58%).
The poll violence seems to be closely linked to muscle and money power, as constituencies with more than one candidate with muscle and money power have seen more violent incidents.
Flow of large sums of money, drugs and liquor during the campaign period has been an evident part of this election, the YCM has gound. Details of seizures made by officials, released by the ECI till February 25, revealed shocking facts. A total of Rs 167.83 crore was seized by officials, including drugs (Rs 143.47 cr), precious metal (Rs 12.17 cr), cash (Rs 4.17 cr) and liquor (Rs 0.65 cr).
Not only are these figures alarming but it also supports the general perception of extensive use of money power during elections. The total value of the seized items so far in this election is already more than 26 times higher than total value seized in the 2017 Manipur election, which was Rs 6.42 crore, said the release.
Even though no vote buying is reported with evidence, the voters are quite certain that it is already taking place widely. The campaign expenditure of almost all candidates is believed to be far exceeding the ceiling of Rs 28 lakh rupees imposed by the ECI. The question of false information submitted in the affidavit by candidates, which has passed scrutiny, is also a matter of concern.
The YCM has found that voter education on electoral information largely remains poor. Majority of the voters are aware of neither the facilities provided by the election commission nor the details of a candidate’s background. The same is true for the MCC or other related regulations.
There are a total of 265 candidates contesting from 60 Assembly Constituencies, 173 and 92 in phase I and II, respectively. Among these candidates, the total number of women candidates is 17, which is almost negligible. This is shocking as it reflects the continuing male dominance in formal politics in the state.
Meira Paibi even commented that in the period leading to the elections, discussion programmes in the media conducted on various electoral issues hardly had any woman panelist, added the release.
On the issue of media freedom and neutrality, no major incident of undue media restrictions in the pre-election period is reported. However, stakeholders opined that there is a need to have a closer look at the issue, as there is a speculation of growing bond of selected media groups with those in power.
It has been observed that there are only a few CSOs are actively working to ensure genuine, free and fair expression of the will of the people. Other than media, officials’ election observers (general, police and expenditure) and YCM’s People’s Election Monitoring Team, there are no groups conducting formal monitoring.
To have an environment in which the CSOs effectively perform their role by participating in the electoral process, it is important that officials concerned and stakeholders address the issue of CSOs abstaining from the election process despite their active involvement in other socio-political issues, the YCM said.
Also read: Manipur 2022: Campaigning ends for 1st phase poll in Kangpokpi